Bein nods in agreement with Lord Finnabar. setting his lance in its holder he puts a hand on his sheathed longsword, they're foes were smaller then before he was ready to face them on foot. "They prefer ambushes, cowards, we best be careful and avoid tight areas then."

You travel slowley, the trail hard to follow in the half-light, even with Jack's ability to see relatively well. Every now-and-then you lose the creatures' trail and it takes several minutes of hunting to find it again. As the sun climbs above the eastern horizen the trail becomes easier to follow and you begin to make better time.

After a full two-hours of travel it seems clear that the trail has stopped meandering and straightens out, speeding your progress further. As you come to the top of a ridge you see a mighty oak in the distance straight ahead, it stands out above the other trees of the area and seems to be the destination of the tracks.

Bein dismounts, giving a low whistle and indicating for Arundel to follow. He ties the reins to his saddlehorn and proceeded towards the great oak on foot. He draws his Longsword and travels slowly towards the oak, while eyeing the underbrush warily.

Sorry internet went out for damn near a week >.<;;; I gave my internet company hell for it after the second day... Still never gave me a straight answer... and my internet is still erratic...

Hidden amid the ancient tree’s roots you manage to spot a hidden entrance which, on closer insepction consists of a root-lined shaft
that drops 10 feet down to a dirt floor below. The shaft is lined with the mighty tree's roots and should make it easy to climb down.

Bein turns and shakes his bullseye lantern, smiling at the sound of the fuel oil slopping about on the inside. "My lantern is still full Lordship, I also carry spare torches as well. Both are at your disposal."

Bein nods and speaks up. "I can take Rear Guard, with Lord Finnabar and Jack leading the way. Someone must watch your back Teacher." Bein looks to Arundel and gives the command for Arundel to Guard until his return.

Bein nods and speaks up. "I can take Rear Guard, with Lord Finnabar and Jack leading the way. Someone must watch your back Teacher." Bein looks to Arundel and gives the command for Arundel to Guard until his return.

Jack easily makes his way downwards into the hole, closely followed by Finnabar. After descending roughly 10 feet you reach the ground. Streatching east to west, and angling downward in both directions is a natural tunnel between 5 and 3 foot wide and only 5 foot high - effectively lower, since it is covered in tangles of tree roots and small stalagtites (NB this will make it hard to fight effectively) . The floor of the tunnel is muddy and wet and reflects the light of the torch strangley, causing the shadows of the stalagtites and tree roots to dance strangely against the walls of the tunnel.

You move forward slowley, forced into a close, crouched, single file as proceed towards the sound. Jack edges further to get a view and is confronted by the strange sight of two blueish-grey coloured bipedal creatures, with short legs and arms, covered in short, dirty feathers or hair.

One stands at the north of the cavern (which is no higher than the passage but measures 15'x15' and has another exit on the far side.) On the other side of the cavern stands the other creature, which holds a sticky white ball. As Jack watches, the creature flings the white ball at its companion but misses. The ball itself sticks to the wall behind the target.

Xarafine follows Finnabar into the chamber, moving to the right side of the tunnel entrance so that Bein has clear access to the ensuing battle. She holds the Speaking Staff at the ready, striking if either creature moves within reach.

Bein angles his blade so that he can thrust and puts his shield in front of him to deflect blows as he watches his fellow join these creatures in combat. He didn't understand the sudden attack but his comrades hadn't led him astray and doubt never crossed his mind.

If PossibleMA: Move into room and hopefully flank one of their strange foes.

Jack's arrow streaks forward, hitting the small, ugly creature in its arm but seeming to do little damage. Immediately, Finnabar rushes into combat with the second creature which crumples into a small pile of bloody feathers as his axe slices through its neck into its abdomen. Bein pushes past Jack into the arrow-wounded creature which pales backwards as his sword descends to cleave its head in two, splattering the tall cavalier in sticky black blood.

The cavern contains a few piles of filthy rags splattered with white and which produce a strong and disgusting smell, a simple bench built by placing a rough plank across three conveneient stalagtites, and little more other than the small bodies of the two creatures. The whole, bloody scene is dimly lit by a small amount of light from a small hole in the roof above, unlike the utter blackness of the tunnel ahead, which even Jack's keen eyes can't penetrate.

Ac+7|DD+7|HanAm+4|Hl+7|K(G)+8|K(N)+8|Ri+6|SenM+8|Stlth+14/16 in forests|Sur+12/14 in forests

Jack kneels down and examines the bodies of the creatures, and the ball they were playing with, looking for any items of note or anything that tells him what they were doing. He hopes they did the right thing, launching the offensive, but between what these creatures did to the kalds and Finnabar's supernatural sense for those with darkness in their souls, he tries to trust that other actions may have led to greater harm.

Perception1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

He squints up ahead. "I can't see at all, we will need light if we go further. And that may mean announcing ourselves."

Ac+7|DD+7|HanAm+4|Hl+7|K(G)+8|K(N)+8|Ri+6|SenM+8|Stlth+14/16 in forests|Sur+12/14 in forests

Jack cleans off his hands carefully and puts his gloves back on. "It seems they were actually tossing s*#+ at each other." He pauses. "Apologies for the coarse language, but some things are what they are."

"Quite acidic in nature. We should take care they don't throw any at us, and not just because it's disgusting."

"Walking into where we cannot see would benefit us nothing. We should light our way, and pray to the Nine that we are not walking into an ambush."

"I don't really know what they are. But I know they are evil by nature and we have seen their acts. I'm not saying the Kalds are better, but if these beings prey on the weak, we need to root them out. Let's light up our way and go forwards. But be wary of ambushes."

Bein nods and lights up a set of torches he had been carrying just for this occasion, he also lights his bullseye lantern and hands it to Finnabar. "Throw this at them if you must, it is full of oil and should burn fiercely enough to buy us time to retreat Lordship."

Ac+7|DD+7|HanAm+4|Hl+7|K(G)+8|K(N)+8|Ri+6|SenM+8|Stlth+14/16 in forests|Sur+12/14 in forests

Hymenopterix wrote:

Are you going to continue in the same order? If so, who's holding lanters or torches and are you going to continue in this direction or head back past the entrance?

Bein just said he's lighting a torch and handed a lantern to finnabar. I assume same marching order unless anyone says otherwise. ETA: Ninjaed by Xarafine. Jack can't hold a torch because he needs both hands to fire arrows.

Are you going to continue in the same order? If so, who's holding lanters or torches and are you going to continue in this direction or head back past the entrance?

Bein just said he's lighting a torch and handed a lantern to finnabar. I assume same marching order unless anyone says otherwise. ETA: Ninjaed by Xarafine. Jack can't hold a torch because he needs both hands to fire arrows.

To summarize what everyone said, Jack will go first with his bow, Finnabar just behind with a lantern in his shield hand. Then Xarafine with another torch and Bein behind. And we go deeper down.